Mrs. Gaskell

Note: This week’s post is a bit different.  Elizabeth Gaskell certainly created many valiant characters in her novels, and she herself was a remarkable woman, even if not necessarily a valiant one. Because Elizabeth Gaskell is not as well-known as Jane Austen probably is to most of us, I want to give a little bit more biographical information about her.  (It’s also interesting if you are familiar with her works, because of the many autobiographical aspects that she incorporates into them.) 

I recently re-watched my favorite movie, BBC’s adaptation of Elizabeth Gaskell’s final novel, Wives and Daughters.  And much like the mouse who can’t just have a cookie and leave the rest alone, after watching the movie, I’m drawn back to the book.  You’ll notice I made the bold statement of calling this my favorite movie, and that is because the screenplay writer and director did such a fantastic job of recreating the characters, keeping true to the dialog and the characters, and much of the complete plot, as much as possible in a film adaptation of a novel.  If you haven’t seen it yet, you really must add it to your list, and familiarize yourself with some of the other works of dear Mrs. Gaskell!

Elizabeth was born in 1810 in Chelsea and her mother died the following year.  Her mother and father had eight children, but only two survived past infancy.  Her father was a Unitarian minister who left his parish and resigned his orders on conscientious grounds.  He then relocated the family to London.  When her mother died, Elizabeth went to live with her aunt until she was about 17 years old, at which time she returned home to live with her father and stepmother, but felt neglected, as her half siblings received more of their parents’ attention.  She was close with her elder brother, and he came to visit her at their aunt’s house from time to time.  He later joined the navy and went missing on an expedition to India in 1827.  A year after she returned home, Elizabeth’s father, her last immediate family member, passed away.

 In 1832, when she was 21 years old, she married Reverend William Gaskell, also a Unitarian minister, and they settled in the industrial city of Manchester, where they remained for most of their married life.  After all the grief of a lonely childhood and the loss of so many loved ones, Mrs. Gaskell still had more to suffer.  She gave birth to two stillborn children, and had a son who died of scarlet fever when he was nine months old.  Her husband encouraged her to write as an antidote for her sorrow.  She had already written some poetry and short stories, but now she began writing novels.  She traveled extensively throughout her life, spending time in Belgium, Germany, Paris, and Rome.  She also met a number of authors, religious dissenters, social reformers, and became close with some of them, most notably Charlotte Brontë and Charles Dickens.

TANGENT! I find it fascinating that Elizabeth Gaskell is one of the few married female authors.  Think about it- Jane Austen, George Elliot, Louisa May Alcott, the Brontës (quibble- Charlotte died 9 months into her marriage), Harper Lee, and Willa Cather, to name a few, all remained single their whole lives!  And some of these women wrote the most beautiful love stories of all time!  Ok, done with my tangent.

In addition to caring for her three daughters, running the household, and writing, Mrs. Gaskell also kept very active by helping those in need.  She visited the poor and acted as an advocate for abused and neglected children.  During the American Civil War, cotton was scarce, so times were difficult in the textile center of Manchester.  Though already in her early fifties, Mrs. Gaskell assisted with relief work for the poor who were suffering. 

Then, when she was 55 years old, in 1865, at home with her family, serving tea, she suffered a sudden heart attack, and fell over and died mid-sentence.  She left her final work, Wives and Daughters unfinished, with only a chapter or two to write.  However, she left a few notes, so we still know how all of the loose ends tie up.  Her other works include North and South, Cranford, and Life of Charlotte Brontë.  She also has a very interesting novel, Ruth, that was quite controversial when it was published, as it deals with seduction, illegitimacy, and questions the way in which society viewed “fallen women.”  She portrayed her heroine as being completely innocent and undeserving of the harsh judgments and condemnation she receives from others. 

So next week we’ll talk about Molly Gibson, the heroine of Wives and Daughters.  If you don’t want spoilers, I highly encourage you to look up either the book or movie before then!

Bibliography:

Gaskell, Elizabeth, Wives and Daughters. World’s Classics, Oxford University Press, 1987.

Rennell, Tony. “The amazing secret life of Cranford creator Elizabeth Gaskell,” Daily Mail, November, 2007.